Inspection survey has a wide range of application, from preventive inspection to retrospective investigation of why or what happened. During the chain of events preceding an accident, an inspection resulting in appropriate action being taken on the findings could, in a high percentage of cases, prove a decisive factor in prevention. The equipment used in inspection ranges from submarines (see, for example, www.researchsubmarine.com), to AUVs, to micro-ROVs, each having its own application and dedicated sensor suite. The variety may be best illustrated by some statistics: there are over 140 ROV builders, more than 450 ROVs and AUV-tracked and towed vehicles and more than 150 ROV dedicated support ships.
The word ‘inspection’ is for most of us automatically associated with inspection of manmade objects, especially those involved in O&G-industry sub-sea infrastructure: pipelines, wellheads and risers. It is the operators who drive inspection here, in an industry looking for undisturbed operations or to fulfil government requirements for regular (pipeline) survey, perhaps based on concern for the environment and/or for the safety of fishermen. It is remarkable that this practise of government-required regular inspection is not roughly of the same order worldwide.
If the continuous flow of O&G may be considered as the arterial blood-supply of our modern-day economy, the communication infrastructure is another. Such arterial supply lines (e.g. pipelines and submarine fibre optics) being vulnerable from a security point of view (I’m thinking here of terrorist threats) they are and will increasingly become a matter of concern for both government and owner/operator. So that future work will be generated not only in the traditional knowledge required for planning, laying, inspecting and maintaining such submarine infrastructure but also the security aspect; in part, military aspects related to MCM route-survey work.
Technology will increase the inspection work efficiency: for example, fully automated AUV security patrols. The SPINAV-project (see page 7) is a step in this direction. I wonder whether there will eventually come some cross-fertilisation between medical inspection and the technology used out at sea - perhaps AUVs swimming through human blood vessels… In any case, more and more sub-sea infrastructure and the safety and security aspects involved will increase the importance of a well-maintained GIS-system, including confidentiality. Not every nation-state has such a requirement already in place. Clearly, good co-operation between governments and industry will be of the essence, and will improve efficiency.
And now to other things: What can be the connection between hydrographic surveyors and bed & breakfasts? Our Editorial Advisory Board member Ian Sinclair has started a ‘bed and breakfast’ in the South of France, while Derek Law, until recently our regional correspondent in Africa, has started one in South Africa. Is it that surveyors are busy bees and want to continue a life of early rising and late to bed in order to serve their guests? In the days when Ian and Derek were beginning in hydro-graphy, technical restrictions meant that surveying was mostly carried out during daytime hours - and processing in the very late evenings. In The Netherlands hydrographic service we had a saying that went something like: ‘Surveyors are like houseplants: they get put outside early in the morning but then someone forgets to bring them back indoors at night ...’
We’d like to thank Derek Law for his input during his time as regional correspondent and wish him good luck in his new life.